JP2001177657A - Data collection system using telephone line - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize communication equipment at the side of a remote monitor station and also to continuously collect operation data in a data collection system for collecting data from a plurality of object in remote places. SOLUTION: In the data collection system consisting of the remote monitor station 1, a modem 2, a telephone line 3, a plurality of telemeter slave stations 4 and the monitoring objects 5, the remote monitor station 1 is provided with a program for performing data communication with the telemeter slave stations by making a call to each telemeter slave station in order through the use of the telephone line 3 and the telemeter slave station 4 is provided with a memory and a program for temporarily preserving the state of each monitoring object in the memory. Then the value of the monitoring object state preserved in the memory of each telemeter slave station 4 is recorded in the remote monitor station 1 via the telephone line 3 and data of the plurality of monitoring objects 5 are continuously collected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
Monitors, records, and controls the measured quantities and operating conditions (running, stop, alarm, etc.) of monitoring targets distributed over a wide area, such as water distribution facilities, industrial production facilities, and sales data collection facilities, as well as equipment failures And a data collection system that displays and records abnormal conditions and uses them for equipment maintenance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 4, a remote control system for controlling the operation of monitored devices installed in a plurality of monitoring targets distributed over a wide area and continuously collecting data on operating conditions and measurement data of the measured devices. A conventional data collection system that continuously collects data from a supervisory control device slave station (hereinafter referred to as a telemeter (a monitoring communication device having a built-in modem and data input / output interface) slave station) is a central data center that manages the entire system Remote monitoring control device master station such as data logger provided in the control room (hereinafter referred to as remote monitoring station) 1 and monitoring target 5-1
A plurality of telemeter slave stations 4 for collecting data of .about.5-n
1 to 4-n, the telemeter master stations 7-1 to 7-n,
Connected via dedicated lines 6-1 to 6-n, respectively, to continuously communicate between the remote monitoring station and the telemeter slave station,
Data that changes every moment is stored in a storage device provided in the remote monitoring station 1.

As described above, in order to collect data using the dedicated line 6, a set of communication devices (telemeter master station and telemeter slave station) are continuously used for one monitoring target. In order to monitor N monitoring targets, N sets of communication devices are required, and the monitoring equipment on the remote monitoring station side is large and expensive. Further, in this system, since the dedicated lines are used by the number of monitoring targets, the cost of using the dedicated lines has been increased.

When a remote monitoring station provided in a monitoring room is connected to a monitoring object at a remote location using a telephone line to collect operation data of the monitoring target, a plurality of the telephone lines are required. Because the monitoring target is used at different times, the time to connect the remote monitoring station and the telemeter slave station is limited, and data communication is performed at time intervals between the remote monitoring station and the telemeter slave station. However, monitoring data other than when both were connected was missing, and continuous monitoring data could not be collected.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to construct a data collection system capable of continuously collecting operation data of a plurality of monitoring targets while miniaturizing a communication facility on a remote monitoring station side. It is in.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a data collection system for connecting a remote monitoring station and a telemeter slave station to be monitored without using a dedicated line, and for collecting continuous monitoring data of the monitoring target. It is in.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for transmitting a call between a remote monitoring station that collects data and a telemeter slave station that collects data from a remote control target. Data and signals are transmitted via the connected telephone line.

The present invention also provides a function of sequentially calling a plurality of telemeter slave stations connected to a monitoring target to a remote monitoring station and requesting the transfer of data, and a function of storing and processing the transferred data. In addition, a function is provided for receiving data by connecting a telephone line when an incoming call is received from a telemeter slave station other than the communicating telemeter slave station.

Further, the present invention provides a function of temporarily storing data to be monitored in a telemeter slave station, and transmitting the temporarily stored data when a data transfer request is received from a remote monitoring station. And a function to call the telephone line when it becomes necessary to communicate with the remote monitoring station.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a remote monitoring station provided with a modem for communicating with a remote telemetry slave station using a telephone line, and periodically and sequentially providing a remote telemetry slave station. Call the office and communicate data. For this reason, the remote monitoring station side modem is not dedicated to one monitoring target, but is connected to and communicates with a plurality of monitoring targets via a line, so that the number of modems can be reduced. In addition, in order to continuously collect the operation data of the monitoring target, a function of temporarily storing the operation data while the remote monitoring station and the telemeter slave station are not performing data communication, in a memory in the telemeter slave station, At the time of the next communication, the data is transmitted from the telemeter slave station to the remote monitoring station.

When a special operation state (event) such as generation of an alarm or start or stop of operation of the monitored object occurs in the monitored object while the remote monitoring station and the telemeter slave station are not performing data communication, A function is provided in the telemeter slave station to notify the remote monitoring station by telephone that an event such as the occurrence of an alarm or the start or stop of operation of a monitored object has occurred. By the notification of this event occurrence, the remote monitoring station changes the order of data communication with the telemeter slave station,
Priority is given to data communication with the monitoring target where the event has occurred. This makes it possible to display, on the screen of the remote monitoring station, information required to be displayed in real time, such as generation of an alarm or occurrence of an event such as operation start or operation stop of a monitoring target.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a data collection system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The data collection system according to this embodiment comprises a plurality of monitored equipment / devices 5 installed at remote locations.
2-1 to 5-n and the remote monitoring control device master station (distant monitoring station) 1 provided in the central control room, the modems 2-1 and 2-
2, a telephone line 3 connected by calling, and remote monitoring control device slave stations (telemeter slave stations) 4-1 to 4- connected to respective monitoring target devices 5. You.

The remote monitoring station 1 is composed of a computer such as a data logger, and is installed in the central control room. The operation history of the device to be monitored and the equipment to be monitored are operated by an operator in the central control room. Is displayed on the display unit in real time. The remote monitoring station 1 has a function of displaying alarm information and a real-time operation status, particularly when an abnormality occurs in the equipment.

The remote monitoring station 1 is connected via a modem 2 via a telephone line 3 to telemeter slave stations 4-1 to 4-
n in data communication.

The modem 2 modulates the serial bit string data sent from the remote monitoring station 1 into a signal on the communication line and sends it out to the telephone line 3, and converts the signal on the communication line received from the telephone line 3 into a serial signal. It has the function of demodulating it into bit string data and sending it to the remote monitoring station.

The telephone line 3 is, for example, a public telephone line network connected to the other party by calling.

The telemeter slave station 4 has a function of processing an incoming call from the telephone line 3 and calling the remote monitoring station 1 when a failure signal or the like is received from the monitoring target device 5. Further, the telemeter slave station 4 controls and monitors the operation of the equipment in response to an operation command of the monitored device from the remote monitoring station 1 and collects and temporarily stores the operation history data of the monitored device 5. In addition, when a data transfer command is received from the remote monitoring station 1, the operation history data temporarily stored is subjected to a data compression process, compressed, and transmitted to the telephone line in a short time.

The equipment 5 to be monitored is equipment monitored and managed by the remote monitoring station 1. For example, in a water supply and sewage system, it is a water pump installed in equipment such as a pump station.

The configuration of the telemeter slave station 4 used in the data collection system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The telemeter slave station 4 includes a modem 41, an analog input interface (Ai) 42, a digital input interface (Di) 43, and a digital output interface (Do) 4.
4 and the like, a CPU 45 and a memory 46.

The modem 41 modulates serial bit string data such as measurement data sent from the device 5 to be monitored into a signal on the communication line and sends the signal to the telephone line 3. It has a function of demodulating a signal into serial bit string data and transmitting the demodulated signal to the monitoring target device 5.

Analog input interface (Ai) 42
Captures analog signals such as current value and flow rate measurement data sent from the monitoring target device 5. The digital input interface (Di) 43 captures digital signals such as an operation state signal and a failure signal transmitted from the monitored device 5. Digital output interface (D
o) 44 is an operation command or a stop command to the monitoring target device 5,
Outputs digital signals such as control data.

The CPU 45 monitors the device 5 to be monitored, obtains operation history data and stores it in the memory 46, and controls the device 5 to be monitored according to the content of the control command from the remote monitoring station 1. When the transmission of data is instructed, the operation history data acquired from the monitoring target device is read from the memory 46 and transmitted to the remote monitoring station. further,
The CPU 45 has a function of controlling the modem 41, monitoring a signal from the monitoring target device, and controlling a call to the remote monitoring station 1 when a failure such as a failure occurs.

The memory 46 stores a program for controlling the operation of the telemeter slave station 4, a program for making a call to the remote monitoring station 1, and operation history data acquired from the controlled device.

In the remote monitoring station 1, two modems 2-1 and 2-
2 is connected so that it can communicate with two telephone lines, one of the lines 2-1 calls the telemeter slave station 4 from the remote monitoring station 1 to instruct control or to record operation history data. Is used to collect data, and the other line 2-2
Is used to receive a communication from the telemeter slave station 4 to report an alarm.

Thus, the two modems 2-1 and 2-1
Is provided, when the remote monitoring station 1 is collecting data from a specific telemetry slave station via the modem 2-1, the remote monitoring station 1 notifies an alarm from another telemetry slave station via the modem 2-2. When the communication via the modem 2-1 is stopped or the communication is terminated, the communication is connected via the telephone line 3 to the telemeter slave station which has notified the alarm via the modem 2-1. To deal with.

If two modems are provided and the remote monitoring station 1 is configured to be able to handle a plurality of telemeter slave stations simultaneously, the remote monitoring station 1
When a warning is notified from another telemetry slave station via the modem 2-2 while data is being collected from a specific telemeter slave station via the modem 2-1, an alarm is transmitted via the modem 2-1. It is possible to deal with the alarm by communicating with the telemeter slave station that has notified the alarm via the modem 2-2 while continuing the communication. In this way, by keeping the modem 2-2 open at all times, it is possible to always receive a notification of an alarm from another monitoring target.

When the data collection system is composed of a small number of devices 5 to be monitored, the modem 2 and the telephone line 3 are combined into one system, and a call is called from another telephone during a call called a call waiting. By using the service provided by the telephone company that receives the telephone call, if a call is received from another remote station while the remote monitoring station 1 is communicating with the remote station, the call during communication is kept waiting. It can correspond to the telemeter that called.

The process of collecting the operation history data of the monitored device in the data collection system according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When it is time to collect operation history data from the telemeter slave station of the device to be monitored (S1), the remote monitoring station 1 checks whether there is an incoming call from a telemeter slave station other than the device to be monitored. It is determined whether or not it is (S2).

When there is no incoming call from a telemeter slave station other than the monitored equipment, the remote monitoring station 1 executes a process of connecting a line to the telemeter slave station of the monitored equipment via the telephone line 3 ( S3).

When the line is connected to the monitored telemeter slave station, the remote monitoring station 1 sends an instruction to the telemeter slave station to transfer the stored operation history data (S4). .

When the operation history data is sent from the monitored telemeter slave station, the remote monitoring station 1 stores the received operation history data in the storage means and displays the operation history on the display unit using the data. Execute the receiving process
(S5).

When the receiving process from the monitoring target device is completed, it is determined whether there is a next device to collect data (S6), and if there is a next data collection target, the process returns to step S1. Then, the process proceeds to the next data collection process. If there is no next data collection target, the data collection process is terminated.

In step S2, when there is an incoming call from a telemeter slave station other than the monitoring target device, the remote monitoring station 1
After executing the receiving process for the incoming call (S7), the process for receiving alarm data and the like is executed (S8).

The remote monitoring station 1 executes a countermeasure according to the alarm data (S8). When the countermeasure is completed, the remote monitoring station 1 executes a line connection process of the monitoring target device which has been stopped earlier to the telemeter slave station (S3). Then, the process returns to the normal process.

The conditions of each unit for performing such processing are described below.

The remote monitoring station 1 has a function of sequentially connecting a line with the monitored telemeter slave station 4 in accordance with a preset communication schedule in order to collect operation history data of the monitored device 5. have. The remote monitoring station 1 has a function of collecting operation history data of the viewing target device 5 from the telemeter slave station 4 every time communication is performed, and recording the data in a storage device provided in the remote monitoring station 1.

The remote monitoring station 1 transmits the operation history data temporarily stored in the memory 46 in the telemeter slave station 4 while the remote monitoring station 1 is not communicating with the telemeter slave station 4 to the next telemeter slave station. Received during communication with the station. At this time, when the operation history data transmitted through the telephone line 3 has been subjected to a compression process, the operation history data has a function of performing an expansion process and demodulating the compressed data.

The CPU 45 of the telemeter slave station 4 has a function of controlling the modem 41. When a call is received from the remote monitoring station 1 to the telemeter slave station 4, the CPU 45 connects to the telephone line 3, Data communication with the remote monitoring station 1 is performed.

When the telemeter slave station 4 is not communicating with the remote monitoring station 1, the CPU 45 operates to temporarily store the operation history data of the monitored device 5 in the memory 46 of the telemeter slave station 4.

When a command is sent from the remote monitoring station 1 to transmit a past history while the telemeter slave station 4 is performing data communication with the remote monitoring station 1, the CPU 45 sets the memory 4.
6 to read the corresponding data stored in the remote monitoring station 1
It has the function of sending to When a command is transmitted from the remote monitoring station 1 to transmit the current real-time operation state, the CPU 45 has a function of transmitting real-time data.

When the telemeter slave station 4 is performing data communication with the remote monitoring station 1, the analog data input interface 42 and the digital data input interface 4
3 is transmitted to the remote monitoring station 1 as it is instantaneously, and the operation command signal of the remote monitoring station 1 is output to the monitoring target device 5 via the digital data output interface 44 instantaneously.

When an alarm such as a start of the operation or a stop of the operation occurs in the monitoring target 5 that is not in the telephone line 3 and is in the communication waiting state, the connection is made to the monitoring target. Upon detecting an alarm signal, an operation start signal, or an operation stop signal from the digital input signal (Di signal), the telemeter slave station 4 calls the telephone line 3 to the remote monitoring station 1 via the telephone line. It has a function to send alarm reports and event reports.

[0045] remote monitor station _1, if there is an alarm report from the telemeter slave station 4, by changing the communication schedule,
It has the function of calling and communicating with the telemeter slave station where the alarm has occurred. As a result, on the screen of the distant monitoring station, the operating state of the monitoring target 5 for which the alarm has occurred is displayed in real time.

Not only when an alarm is generated but also when the remote monitoring station 1 is operated to start or stop the operation of a device to be monitored at a remote location, the remote monitoring station can be operated by the operator to operate the remote monitoring station. The order in which the lines are connected to the line 4 is changed, and the real-time operation status of the monitored equipment to be operation-controlled is displayed on the remote monitoring station screen.

The remote monitoring station manages from time to time when the operation history is recorded in the remote monitoring station for each monitoring target, and the missing operation history is collected in order for each facility.

The telemeter slave station stores the amount of data having a margin for the communication waiting time with the remote monitoring station in the memory as the operation history, and waits for the next communication with the remote monitoring station.

[0049]

According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated line between the remote monitoring station and the monitoring target, and the remote monitoring station has a number corresponding to the number of monitoring targets. Eliminates the need for communication equipment
The communication equipment can be reduced in size, and continuous operation history data of the monitoring target can be collected and recorded at low cost.

Further, according to the present invention, when an alarm is generated in a monitoring target, the operating status of the monitoring target can be displayed on a remote monitoring station in real time, and during that time, an alarm is generated in another monitoring target. Driving history data can be collected later.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data collection system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a telemeter slave station of the data collection system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing of a remote monitoring station of the data collection system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional data collection system.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a telemeter slave station of a conventional data collection system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote monitoring station 2 Modem 3 Telephone line 4 Telemeter slave station 41 Modem 42 Analog input (Ai) 43 Digital input (Di) 44 Digital output (Do) 45 CPU 46 Memory 5 Device to be monitored 6 Dedicated line 7 Telemeter at remote monitoring station side 8 Indicator lamp

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kiyohiro Nakano 7-1-1 Higashi Narashino, Narashino City, Chiba Prefecture F-term in the Industrial Machinery Group, Hitachi, Ltd. 2F073 AA01 AA19 AB02 AB03 BB09 BC01 CC01 DE11 FG14 GG01 GG08 5K048 BA35 CA03 5K101 KK12 MM07 RR17

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A remote monitoring station for operating a monitoring target and displaying and recording data of the monitoring target, a modem for performing data communication of the remote monitoring station on a telephone line, and a data communication. In a data collection system consisting of a telephone line and a plurality of telemeter slave stations that captures the status of multiple monitoring targets and transmits the data to the remote monitoring station, the remote monitoring station uses the telephone line in order. A program for making data communication with the telemeter slave station by making a telephone call to the telemeter slave station is provided.A program is provided for the telemeter slave station to provide a memory and a program for temporarily storing the state of the monitoring target in the memory. The status values of the monitoring target stored in the memory are recorded in the remote monitoring station via the telephone line, and the data of the multiple monitoring targets are collected without interruption in the remote monitoring station. A data collection system. 2. The data collection system according to claim 1, wherein a program for calling a remote monitoring station is provided in the telemeter slave station, and when an alarm of a monitoring target or start or end of control / operation occurs, the telemeter slave is set. The station automatically notifies the remote monitoring station of the occurrence of an alarm or the start or end of control / operation by data communication to the remote monitoring station, and the remote monitoring station generates an alarm to be monitored and the start or end of control / operation has occurred After the data communication for notifying the fact, change the order of calling the telemeter slave station, and continue the communication with the telemeter slave station that issued the report until collecting necessary data of the monitoring target that issued the report. Characteristic data collection system.